Conservation or sustainability is growing in acceptance worldwide, particularly in both Europe and North America. One aspect of sustainability is material recycling to slow landfill growth.
For decorative laminates used in new construction and major renovations, LEED certification, offered by the US Green Building Council, is a desired accreditation. Thus, entities in the field seek to offer a LEED-certifiable product, preferably with post-consumer recycled material sourcing. It is difficult, however, for these entities to incorporate 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layers into their products because the heat history from the lamination process causes this layer to crystallize—an action that has a detrimental effect on light transmission and impact strength.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for laminated articles incorporating post-consumer recycled PET without significantly reducing light transmission or impact strength in the final article.
The present invention aims to address this need as well as others that will become apparent from the following description and claims. In particular, the present invention aims to provide materials for decorative laminates that contain recycled PET, but avoid crystallizing after undergoing an extended heat history from a lamination process.